1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a human body moving apparatus which is employed for moving a sick person, a handicapped person or a bed-ridden old person (hereinafter simply referred to as "sick person or the like"), for example, in order to nurse him or her.
2. Description of the Background Art
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2-215462 (1990) proposes an improved bed apparatus. This bed apparatus is rendered applicable to a room of a 6 tatami mat size, i.e. about 360 by 270 cm.sup.2 or a room of a 4.5 tatami mat size, i.e. about 270 by 270 cm.sup.2, for example, in consideration of housing circumstances in Japan, and provided with a human body moving mechanism which can raise up and lay down a sick person or the like from and onto the bed body and move him to the side of the bed body. This bed apparatus is also devised to help the sick person or the like to rehabilitate himself.
In more concrete terms, the human body moving mechanism provided in the aforementioned bed apparatus comprises a pair of upright bars upwardly extending with a prescribed space, a coupling bar coupling upper ends of the pair of upright bars with each other, and a support member for supporting a human body, which is mounted to be movable along the upright bars and stoppable at a moved position, including two parallel side bars extending across the pair of upright bars respectively. The pair of upright bars are guided to be movable along the cross direction of the bed apparatus on longitudinal end portions of the bed body respectively.
In the aforementioned human body moving mechanism, the pair of upright bars are movable between positions within the cross-directional dimension of the bed body and positions out of such cross-directional dimension. Further, the support member is vertically movable along the upright bars and stoppable at the moved position regardless of locations of the upright bars. Consequently, the two side bars included in the support member can be located in arbitrary positions within a range of spaces above and on a side of the bed body.
Due to such movement of the side bars, therefore, it is possible to move a sick person or the like who is laid on the bed body to the side of the bed body, and vice versa. According to this human body moving mechanism, therefore, it is possible to easily get the sick person or the like off the bed body to bathe him or help him into a wheelchair, and and then to return him onto the bed body.
In order to move the sick person or the like as described above, a proper hanger member is placed under the body of the sick person or the like and hooked on the side bars in practice. Thus, it is possible to move the sick person or the like in an arbitrary state such as a lying or sitting state by selecting the type of the hanger member.
In the aforementioned bed apparatus, the human body moving mechanism is securely mechanically connected with the bed apparatus. Namely, a mechanism for guiding the pair of upright bars which are included in the human body moving mechanism to be movable along the cross direction of the bed body is built into the mechanism of the bed body.
Therefore, the bed body is increased in weight and the assembly of this bed body is complicated since the mechanism for movably guiding the upright bars must be built into the bed body. Further, such a large-sized bed apparatus is rarely shipped in a completed state but leather components therefor are brought into the place of installation as independent pieces, to be assembled with each other on the spot. Therefore, the assembling operation is preferably simplified as much as possible.
When the mechanism for movably guiding the upright bars is built into the bed body, the range of movement of the upright bars which can be provided by such a guiding mechanism is naturally restricted in relation to the cross-directional dimension of the bed body. However, a movable range for the sick person or the like is preferably widened to the utmost.